Being a movie freak and to an extent History and Discovery channel shows, wanted to have a program that will pop in a notification when my favourite programs/movies are scheduled. I dont want to use teh reminder service provided by the Tata Sky set top box . I want it to be on the PC itself.
If it doesnt fit my schedule, I will have an option to record the program to my disk with ad skipping. I dont need to be aware whats the advertising industry is doing !. Any ways all this is available off the shelf if I get my hands on a pvr a personal video recorder. A mythtv installation will suit me just fine. The problem is In India I am struggling to lay my hands on a Hauppauge PVR-150, it has hardware recording and is supposed to work the best with MythTV. The TV tuner cards that are available in Hyderabad are teh pinacle ones, or I need to go along with Microsofts Media center edition. which is not an option.
Another problem is the unavailablity of xmltv for India, so forget teh mythtv setup, all I want now is a substitute for xml tv and it looks like I need to code fr this. ANd this isnt going to be easy, all the channels have a very elaborate schedule webpages, which cant be readily integrated into a consuming program. So lots of parsing needs to be done aswell.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Dealing with complexity
Our world is infinitely complex, some of the complexity you can never escape, relations, society.Life by defination embeds you in its midist. Some of the complexity you can choose to ignore. That can sometimes be a smart way to deal with the complexity. You wouldnt care to know how the iron ore was mined , what techniques were used to forge it, what was the pricing mechanism of iron as a commodity when your car went to production. You dont have to make sense of everything.
But its fascinating from an academic perspective, to understand how we try to deal with all this complexity. And its not like we have stopped , our world is becoming ever more complex day by day, we are adding new layers into each activity.
Food was quite simple, only what my mom used to cook, then came the invasion, different cuisines , and suddenly by one stroke, I became a part of the food chain that originates across the globe.
As Aurobindo said, shed that ego, embrace everything, dont see yourself as a separate entity, you are by definition an extension of the one. When sometimes I think along these lines, the boundaries of ego disappears, I see the color in the diversity, complexity seems like an expression of a vibrant life expressing itself in all its glory. This is something to be experienced, not to shy away from. There is no bitterness then for things that seem incompatible, cause like you they are also an extension of the One. You can strangely experience peace amidst all this chaos.
I am striving to return this singular algo in my 'attitude code', but all my present logic is meta data driven which is an infinitely complex meta data structure, with possibly thousands of rows.Only once in a while the attitude code happens to pick the row pertaining to the above attitude :(
But its fascinating from an academic perspective, to understand how we try to deal with all this complexity. And its not like we have stopped , our world is becoming ever more complex day by day, we are adding new layers into each activity.
Food was quite simple, only what my mom used to cook, then came the invasion, different cuisines , and suddenly by one stroke, I became a part of the food chain that originates across the globe.
As Aurobindo said, shed that ego, embrace everything, dont see yourself as a separate entity, you are by definition an extension of the one. When sometimes I think along these lines, the boundaries of ego disappears, I see the color in the diversity, complexity seems like an expression of a vibrant life expressing itself in all its glory. This is something to be experienced, not to shy away from. There is no bitterness then for things that seem incompatible, cause like you they are also an extension of the One. You can strangely experience peace amidst all this chaos.
I am striving to return this singular algo in my 'attitude code', but all my present logic is meta data driven which is an infinitely complex meta data structure, with possibly thousands of rows.Only once in a while the attitude code happens to pick the row pertaining to the above attitude :(
Funny!
A funny read, reminded me of that old story on pricing derivatives.
People just need something to believe in, something which makes sense to their senses, on the basis of which they can rationalize, manage their environments. Or the illusion that it may provide, that they are the masters of their destiny, they are in control. Thats all, people are not very demanding, they can happily live with it. That something doesn't need to be the truth, it just needs to be comfortable.
People just need something to believe in, something which makes sense to their senses, on the basis of which they can rationalize, manage their environments. Or the illusion that it may provide, that they are the masters of their destiny, they are in control. Thats all, people are not very demanding, they can happily live with it. That something doesn't need to be the truth, it just needs to be comfortable.
Association and Conditioning
Association: WE create associations all the time,what we see and what we perceive is a result of the associations we have already made. Since our associations vary , so do our perceptions. Our chain of thoughts.
Primed: This is similar to the conditioning theory, I agree to this totally.
"if you see that you're being primed, you can resist it. If you don't see that you're being primed, there is no way you can resist it" This is absolutely true, any self respecting individual will never be comfortable with the fact that he allowed himself to be primed.This in a way explains my initial septisim for traditional cures and knowledge, give me the reason, dont just tell me to follow .
And again "The prime could very well work better than the exhortation because exhortation is going to induce resistance, whereas the prime ‚the mild embarrassment causes you to make what feels like a commitment, and the commitment, if it's sufficiently precise, is going to have an effect on behavior."
A very interesting read
Primed: This is similar to the conditioning theory, I agree to this totally.
"if you see that you're being primed, you can resist it. If you don't see that you're being primed, there is no way you can resist it" This is absolutely true, any self respecting individual will never be comfortable with the fact that he allowed himself to be primed.This in a way explains my initial septisim for traditional cures and knowledge, give me the reason, dont just tell me to follow .
And again "The prime could very well work better than the exhortation because exhortation is going to induce resistance, whereas the prime ‚the mild embarrassment causes you to make what feels like a commitment, and the commitment, if it's sufficiently precise, is going to have an effect on behavior."
A very interesting read
Sunday, October 26, 2008
RSS + Ipod reader
I usually 'consume' a lot of websites, and my interests are quit wide, travel -> slashdot -> businessweek -> indian space and defence news --> movies --> to some selected blogs, well just abt anythig. And when I am travelling the backlog piles up. So I was thinking of something like this.
A software that takes in RSS feeds, stored online, so it can be accessable from anywhere, download the text content and then converts that to audio files , which is automatically pushed into ipod and then 'consumed'. I feel it would be a good usuable solution, and it doesnt require any new technologies to be developed, all the necessary s/w are there, we just need to assemble them. The text could also be pushed into ipod, so that it can be referenced through Ipod Notes.
FreeTTS
The other problem that needs to be cracked is this whole ItunesDB , apple folks have really made a closed Ipoddb spec, last time I was checking, java libraries were not up to the mark to manipulate itunes db.
I need to be able to manipulate itunesdb cause, I just want the ipod to be plugged in, and the converted audio tobe automagically pushed ito the ipod.
A software that takes in RSS feeds, stored online, so it can be accessable from anywhere, download the text content and then converts that to audio files , which is automatically pushed into ipod and then 'consumed'. I feel it would be a good usuable solution, and it doesnt require any new technologies to be developed, all the necessary s/w are there, we just need to assemble them. The text could also be pushed into ipod, so that it can be referenced through Ipod Notes.
FreeTTS
The other problem that needs to be cracked is this whole ItunesDB , apple folks have really made a closed Ipoddb spec, last time I was checking, java libraries were not up to the mark to manipulate itunes db.
I need to be able to manipulate itunesdb cause, I just want the ipod to be plugged in, and the converted audio tobe automagically pushed ito the ipod.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Energy Costs
Thermal efficiency would be a major factor going into the design of the house. Switching on the AC would be the last option. I have to explore ideas on naturally cooling the house, higher ceiling, positioning of the vents etc.
We have 2 main seasons, Summer where the main concern is heat and rainy where humidity is the culprit. So the house should be able to deal with these two conditions. Winter is not particularly cold so no problems there.
Shady trees around the house, for sure. So the two that are in front will be there.
But we dont have much space left in the current plot, to plant more trees :(. 2400 sq ft is not a big plot anyway, but then I dont want a house where we will get lost, I would like everyone to be within reach in that space, yet have their individual space if required.
Higher ceiling is a good idea, gives a more open, more liveable space and hot air settles at the top, but my concern then shifts to energy bills. WHen using an Ac becomes imperative, it would mean more air to be cooled, I want the maintenance aspect of the house to be as minimal as possible through design and passive structures.
I can have some kind of shade on the terrace, so the top floor remains somewhat sheltered from the sun and cool. But only from the top not enclosure type on all four sides. The structure to put on the shade needs to be such that it doesnt hamper the openness of the terrace. It ought to be easily manageable, to cover or remove it when ever required. I should be able to do star gazing !.
Still I need to explore a bit more on traditional and natural methods of cooling.
The other aspect of energy efficiency is lighting. CFLs are more energy efficient is something which is there at the back of my mind, When I explore more on my lighting ideas, I will keep that in mind.
We have 2 main seasons, Summer where the main concern is heat and rainy where humidity is the culprit. So the house should be able to deal with these two conditions. Winter is not particularly cold so no problems there.
Shady trees around the house, for sure. So the two that are in front will be there.
But we dont have much space left in the current plot, to plant more trees :(. 2400 sq ft is not a big plot anyway, but then I dont want a house where we will get lost, I would like everyone to be within reach in that space, yet have their individual space if required.
Higher ceiling is a good idea, gives a more open, more liveable space and hot air settles at the top, but my concern then shifts to energy bills. WHen using an Ac becomes imperative, it would mean more air to be cooled, I want the maintenance aspect of the house to be as minimal as possible through design and passive structures.
I can have some kind of shade on the terrace, so the top floor remains somewhat sheltered from the sun and cool. But only from the top not enclosure type on all four sides. The structure to put on the shade needs to be such that it doesnt hamper the openness of the terrace. It ought to be easily manageable, to cover or remove it when ever required. I should be able to do star gazing !.
Still I need to explore a bit more on traditional and natural methods of cooling.
The other aspect of energy efficiency is lighting. CFLs are more energy efficient is something which is there at the back of my mind, When I explore more on my lighting ideas, I will keep that in mind.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
A new Protocol
My pc is almost always on and connected to the internet, while I am in office I would like to access my pc. I would like to make certain file systems public so that I can share them with other user on the internet. Its like a p2p sharing, but its not anonymous, the way it is now.
If I want to access some pc, I fire up a client like a chat client for example, see if it is online and then click on the online identity to access data. Whats the benifit, a network which is more tightly integrated.
I know its possible technically, we just need to work a bit on the address resoultion part, with many people behind their ISP networks without public IPs. This is already happening with p2p clients communicating independently, I am lookign forward to a non-anonymous p2p link.
There are softwares that allow you to share files across pcs , through chat clients, but they make use of a central server.I upload there and then you download there, thats kind of inefficient, whats the point. I need something to be more direct. If we can crack this, it will free up a lot of bandwidth. There is no need for my message to travel all the way around the world to a central server while the person I am chatting is just next to me.
If we can extend the IP address resolution, or come up with a new address protocol that doesnt break any existing TCP/IP. The network will be more independent, more robust less clogged, more responsive.
If I want to access some pc, I fire up a client like a chat client for example, see if it is online and then click on the online identity to access data. Whats the benifit, a network which is more tightly integrated.
I know its possible technically, we just need to work a bit on the address resoultion part, with many people behind their ISP networks without public IPs. This is already happening with p2p clients communicating independently, I am lookign forward to a non-anonymous p2p link.
There are softwares that allow you to share files across pcs , through chat clients, but they make use of a central server.I upload there and then you download there, thats kind of inefficient, whats the point. I need something to be more direct. If we can crack this, it will free up a lot of bandwidth. There is no need for my message to travel all the way around the world to a central server while the person I am chatting is just next to me.
If we can extend the IP address resolution, or come up with a new address protocol that doesnt break any existing TCP/IP. The network will be more independent, more robust less clogged, more responsive.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Economics
The concept of Economics is quite fascinating. On the surface its more or less demand and supply. But if you scratch the surface an infinitely complex world lurks underneath.
Lets take my dinner yesterday, which was Pizza office delivered, the complexity of that process. I read the Pizza Hut offers,
the pamphlet PRINTED by some company,
ad campaign and pamphlet layout DESIGNED by another company,
PHONE call made through a service provider,
ORDER registered on a PC provided by some hardware company,
running an OS designed by someone,
on a software CODED by someone,
the pizza DELIVERED by the delivery guy
and finally payment made through SODEXHO coupons and this was just scratching the surface. If you dig down further its a way too complex mesh of interlinked business and people.
My day job is to build software, which my company sells across the world. If the customers see value in the software that we build, then they will buy it, they might even ready to pay a premium. This might translate to more surplus incomes for me as a result of more profits to my company cause of more profits for the consumers who use the software.
I am not going to dig a pit and bury the cash, I am going to spend it. That in turns translates to more business for the companies providing various goods and services, which I consume. They will ofcourse make money which translates to more income for their employees. If I invest it my money will be used by the bank to finance some other economic activity by some other business/individual, a home loan, a car loan . Its like a reinforcing cycle with the same set of actors the same set of goals, everyone wants to have a 'better' quality of life.
What puzzles me is how the system completely fails down, in times like this. WE have the bail out and mergers and acquisitions but quite literally no one saw it coming, or if they saw it coming, no one did anything about it. And now the whole world is staring at recession.
This inefficient system probably stems from the fact that very few people actually care to understand economics. THey just play the game , dont feel the need to understand the dynamics. Everyone today who deals with money, will be affected. by dealing I meant to exclude people who are totally self sufficient, But very few care to understand.Every one is so tied up playing the little games in their backyard, they just dont see the need to make sense of the bigger picture. And even if they see the bigger picture, whats the point , I cant change anything, so why bother. 'Ignorance is bliss, let me worry what I will have in canteen for lunch'. Fair enough in a way.
Like the pizza yesterday I sometimes concern myself with the bill, being from a software background , I sometimes value that, encapsulation of logic, compartmentalization of complexity, abstraction. Like software its easier to deal with life, if you abstract certain things.I use the net everyday but I wont be able to tell you the internals of TCP/IP.But this approach has its risks too.
In such a scenario the whole system is hijacked by a very select group of 'experts' who do what they think is right. I am not questioning their intention, I have no reason to believe that they want to screw up intentionally. But if we get more people to think of economics, if we can build up that awareness, I am not saying everyone needs to be an expert, just a little more conscious, we will definitely have better ideas which should lead us to a more 'perfect' set of financial practices. ANd a more stable and predictable In pursuit of 'Happyness'
Lets take my dinner yesterday, which was Pizza office delivered, the complexity of that process. I read the Pizza Hut offers,
the pamphlet PRINTED by some company,
ad campaign and pamphlet layout DESIGNED by another company,
PHONE call made through a service provider,
ORDER registered on a PC provided by some hardware company,
running an OS designed by someone,
on a software CODED by someone,
the pizza DELIVERED by the delivery guy
and finally payment made through SODEXHO coupons and this was just scratching the surface. If you dig down further its a way too complex mesh of interlinked business and people.
My day job is to build software, which my company sells across the world. If the customers see value in the software that we build, then they will buy it, they might even ready to pay a premium. This might translate to more surplus incomes for me as a result of more profits to my company cause of more profits for the consumers who use the software.
I am not going to dig a pit and bury the cash, I am going to spend it. That in turns translates to more business for the companies providing various goods and services, which I consume. They will ofcourse make money which translates to more income for their employees. If I invest it my money will be used by the bank to finance some other economic activity by some other business/individual, a home loan, a car loan . Its like a reinforcing cycle with the same set of actors the same set of goals, everyone wants to have a 'better' quality of life.
What puzzles me is how the system completely fails down, in times like this. WE have the bail out and mergers and acquisitions but quite literally no one saw it coming, or if they saw it coming, no one did anything about it. And now the whole world is staring at recession.
This inefficient system probably stems from the fact that very few people actually care to understand economics. THey just play the game , dont feel the need to understand the dynamics. Everyone today who deals with money, will be affected. by dealing I meant to exclude people who are totally self sufficient, But very few care to understand.Every one is so tied up playing the little games in their backyard, they just dont see the need to make sense of the bigger picture. And even if they see the bigger picture, whats the point , I cant change anything, so why bother. 'Ignorance is bliss, let me worry what I will have in canteen for lunch'. Fair enough in a way.
Like the pizza yesterday I sometimes concern myself with the bill, being from a software background , I sometimes value that, encapsulation of logic, compartmentalization of complexity, abstraction. Like software its easier to deal with life, if you abstract certain things.I use the net everyday but I wont be able to tell you the internals of TCP/IP.But this approach has its risks too.
In such a scenario the whole system is hijacked by a very select group of 'experts' who do what they think is right. I am not questioning their intention, I have no reason to believe that they want to screw up intentionally. But if we get more people to think of economics, if we can build up that awareness, I am not saying everyone needs to be an expert, just a little more conscious, we will definitely have better ideas which should lead us to a more 'perfect' set of financial practices. ANd a more stable and predictable In pursuit of 'Happyness'
Monday, October 6, 2008
List
Survey of India Maps, if its a jungle trek this is amust, without this I am not moving an inch in future.
A GPS.
An alpine tent.
A whistle.
A walkie Talkie (preferred).
A GPS.
An alpine tent.
A whistle.
A walkie Talkie (preferred).
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Ignorance is bliss
I have wrestled with this idea for quite some time, and my opinions are still ambivalent. This thought recently popped up after finding out that parts of Men Vs Wild, the series on Nat Geo, were fake. I will never be able to enjoy that series again, there will always be that doubt, and for that matter on similar series in future, what a shame. But if I had not been aware ?
I used to love street food, still do, but gradually when the unhygenic aspect sinks in, I never had that fun, always conscious. What fun it used to be pani puri after school, but now :( The situation is worse when it comes to relationships.
When you try to understand a relationship, the rationale, put logic, prepare that equation, balance it, then thats it, you loose something forever, now the relationship will turn into something mathematical, that you can probably put in a paper and analyze,
In future when we develop superior models to understand human psyche, its not that hard to imagine a sw system taking all the inputs from the various sensors, and giving you a chart ! Or a text message alert on your cell that reads " Hey Tushar, She is 78.25% in love with you, thats up by 2% from yesterday, if you want a more detailed report, click this link,
Satisfaction Guaranteed, Your transaction will be safe with us" or something on those lines. Ok that was a bit fanciful, but not very hard to imagine.
When I first started reading psychology, it fascinated me to no end, I was aware that I might potentially devalue the humane aspect of a relationship, but curiosity got the better of me. I was convinced that there is a reason behind every action, whether someone is conscious of that reasoning or not, did not concern me, I was interested in just the logic. And sadly there is a reason,behind all that we do. But then I found I am loosing a certain sentimental value in relationships.
Probably the trick lies is not being ignorant but not to be 'super smart', relationships ought to have that sentimental value, I choose to ignore rationale and logic in relationships that I value, I don't want to make SENSE of it all, I don't have to, and it has been a wise decision so far. How it feels when someone surprises you, when someone sits with you and gives you advice, when someone cares, standing by your side. When someone waits for you and you abandon every logic and try to outdo with more love and caring than you got :)
I used to love street food, still do, but gradually when the unhygenic aspect sinks in, I never had that fun, always conscious. What fun it used to be pani puri after school, but now :( The situation is worse when it comes to relationships.
When you try to understand a relationship, the rationale, put logic, prepare that equation, balance it, then thats it, you loose something forever, now the relationship will turn into something mathematical, that you can probably put in a paper and analyze,
In future when we develop superior models to understand human psyche, its not that hard to imagine a sw system taking all the inputs from the various sensors, and giving you a chart ! Or a text message alert on your cell that reads " Hey Tushar, She is 78.25% in love with you, thats up by 2% from yesterday, if you want a more detailed report, click this link,
Satisfaction Guaranteed, Your transaction will be safe with us" or something on those lines. Ok that was a bit fanciful, but not very hard to imagine.
When I first started reading psychology, it fascinated me to no end, I was aware that I might potentially devalue the humane aspect of a relationship, but curiosity got the better of me. I was convinced that there is a reason behind every action, whether someone is conscious of that reasoning or not, did not concern me, I was interested in just the logic. And sadly there is a reason,behind all that we do. But then I found I am loosing a certain sentimental value in relationships.
Probably the trick lies is not being ignorant but not to be 'super smart', relationships ought to have that sentimental value, I choose to ignore rationale and logic in relationships that I value, I don't want to make SENSE of it all, I don't have to, and it has been a wise decision so far. How it feels when someone surprises you, when someone sits with you and gives you advice, when someone cares, standing by your side. When someone waits for you and you abandon every logic and try to outdo with more love and caring than you got :)
Friday, September 26, 2008
Better templates
Blogger needs a better selection of template, I blog at multiple places and each one has a different temper, The one on travel I want to have it more lively, I do a lot of landscape cause of my inclination towards outdoor and trekking a template which brings life into those pictures a background which is roughened up a bit. basically more options in template , I am struggling to find one for my travel blog.
And anticipating how imp blog is going to be , a piece of us out there in the internet , we should be giving some more attention to its presentations. Was surprised that I had to tweak quite a bit to bring the tag clouds. it should be out of the box.
I am not complaining too much, the blogging infrastructure is quite good, but it can be made better.
My travel blog looks real shitty now :(.
Need to do some research on custom templates
And anticipating how imp blog is going to be , a piece of us out there in the internet , we should be giving some more attention to its presentations. Was surprised that I had to tweak quite a bit to bring the tag clouds. it should be out of the box.
I am not complaining too much, the blogging infrastructure is quite good, but it can be made better.
My travel blog looks real shitty now :(.
Need to do some research on custom templates
Thursday, September 25, 2008
List
What do I need through the course of a day, away from the comforts of home. While trekking during monsoons in peninsula India.
1. toothpaste/brush
2. a non Turkish towel, for it has to dry quickly.
3. a swiss army knife.
4. an umbrella
5. a cap
6. sunglasses
7. trekking shoes
8. 1-2 pairs of socks per day.
9. wrist watch
10.shorts and tshirt one each per day planned.
11. Sun block, water proof one.
12. Medicine pouch (antisceptic + bandaid + a small roll of cotton wool + diarrohea + dysentry tablets).
13. A backpack with two pouches to carry two bottles of water.
14. A rain coat to keep the backpack dry and some polythenes to wrap up the camera.
15. slippers
16. Camera
17. memory cards as required.
18. Cell
19. Cell charger (optional)
20. ipod + earphones
21. ipod charger (optional)
22. A small list of imp contact numbers.
23. A pair of driving glasses is a must, if any plan of night time biking.
24 A pair or a single walking pole.
This list will be refined further with experience
1. toothpaste/brush
2. a non Turkish towel, for it has to dry quickly.
3. a swiss army knife.
4. an umbrella
5. a cap
6. sunglasses
7. trekking shoes
8. 1-2 pairs of socks per day.
9. wrist watch
10.shorts and tshirt one each per day planned.
11. Sun block, water proof one.
12. Medicine pouch (antisceptic + bandaid + a small roll of cotton wool + diarrohea + dysentry tablets).
13. A backpack with two pouches to carry two bottles of water.
14. A rain coat to keep the backpack dry and some polythenes to wrap up the camera.
15. slippers
16. Camera
17. memory cards as required.
18. Cell
19. Cell charger (optional)
20. ipod + earphones
21. ipod charger (optional)
22. A small list of imp contact numbers.
23. A pair of driving glasses is a must, if any plan of night time biking.
24 A pair or a single walking pole.
This list will be refined further with experience
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
What do you see ?
NASA astrophysicists have discovered what they claim is something outside the observable universe exerting an effect on the observable. The material is pulling clusters of galaxies towards a region of space known not to contain sufficient matter to create the effect. They can only speculate on what the material is and how space might differ there: "In these regions, space-time might be very different, and likely doesn't contain stars and galaxies (which only formed because of the particular density pattern of mass in our bubble). It could include giant, massive structures much larger than anything in our own observable universe. These structures are what researchers suspect are tugging on the galaxy clusters, causing the dark flow.
Now sample this theory
The senses routinely perform two miracles, First each sensory organ acts to transform a particular kind of physical energy - the short waves of light, the molecules of sourness - into a different kind of energy, the electrochemical process of neural firing. This process is called transduction. Each sense has specialized receptors responsible for the transduction of external energy into the language of the brain. The eye transduces light, the ear transduces sound waves the nose transduces gaseous molecules.
The second part of the miracle is in teh sensory and brain system. here there is a second transformation the billions of electrical explosions and chemical secretions of 'neural firing' becomes trees and cakes, silverfish and laughter, emotions - the conscious world of human experience.
These two miracles occur every moment of our lives and are so contnious and routine that we are naturally unaware of them. We are on our way to understand how the first mracle works but completely mystified by the second.
My explanation to the first problem is, there might be something wrong in te second transformation we just assume too many things in our observable world, we havent questioned the second transformation that much, we ought to. The first transformation is all about science as we know today cause and effect, the second is more subjective , not boolean, perceptions.
Or is this the consciousness of GOD, I try to open up, imagine break the shales, not governed by the conditioning of senses, through the last 28 years, not conditioned by the books I have read, what do I see ?
Now sample this theory
The senses routinely perform two miracles, First each sensory organ acts to transform a particular kind of physical energy - the short waves of light, the molecules of sourness - into a different kind of energy, the electrochemical process of neural firing. This process is called transduction. Each sense has specialized receptors responsible for the transduction of external energy into the language of the brain. The eye transduces light, the ear transduces sound waves the nose transduces gaseous molecules.
The second part of the miracle is in teh sensory and brain system. here there is a second transformation the billions of electrical explosions and chemical secretions of 'neural firing' becomes trees and cakes, silverfish and laughter, emotions - the conscious world of human experience.
These two miracles occur every moment of our lives and are so contnious and routine that we are naturally unaware of them. We are on our way to understand how the first mracle works but completely mystified by the second.
My explanation to the first problem is, there might be something wrong in te second transformation we just assume too many things in our observable world, we havent questioned the second transformation that much, we ought to. The first transformation is all about science as we know today cause and effect, the second is more subjective , not boolean, perceptions.
Or is this the consciousness of GOD, I try to open up, imagine break the shales, not governed by the conditioning of senses, through the last 28 years, not conditioned by the books I have read, what do I see ?
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Strange as it may sound, today I am quite sympethetic to the collapsed giants of the wall street. If you ask any one, this is the big news these days so everyone is aware, as to what happened, the answer would be recklessness, too much of risk. Hardly anyone will use words like too much of ambition, dreams or confidence. These words are two sides of th same coin, we just choose them based on the result. If AIG would have come out with spectacular results then the CEO would have been described as an ambitious guy, a candidate for some magazine's cover page. I am sure the fall guys now would have donned the cover pages of various magazines in the past.The methods, the race itself has hardly any value in front of results, numbers. Yet it is the methods, the process, the race itself that builds up the numbers, the results.
In a way one is always alone, he , his thoughts his dreams. If a majority of outsiders/ society at large sees some benifit out of your success than you are a hero. They seldom even peep into your methods, the result is all that matters. If on the other hand your utility (for them) goes down or worse goes into negative, you will find yourself at the wrong end of the barrel, this is instantaneous.
What ever happens in your life, you, your soul, your process, your methods, your personality, your dreams are always going to be with you. People, relationships, unless you are very lucky to have real values based relationships, they will be fickle, once the stimuli is gone, it will start decaying. And your mind will create notions, theories to protect your conscience against this uglyness, the betrayal, its natural and to an extent necessary as well. Coming back to The results, well let the society bother about them, let the others take note of it, let the insignificant others take note of it. You should not worry about it.
This theory needs to be developed further, refined. I am discovering new reinforcing thoughts on these lines in day to day life.
In a way one is always alone, he , his thoughts his dreams. If a majority of outsiders/ society at large sees some benifit out of your success than you are a hero. They seldom even peep into your methods, the result is all that matters. If on the other hand your utility (for them) goes down or worse goes into negative, you will find yourself at the wrong end of the barrel, this is instantaneous.
What ever happens in your life, you, your soul, your process, your methods, your personality, your dreams are always going to be with you. People, relationships, unless you are very lucky to have real values based relationships, they will be fickle, once the stimuli is gone, it will start decaying. And your mind will create notions, theories to protect your conscience against this uglyness, the betrayal, its natural and to an extent necessary as well. Coming back to The results, well let the society bother about them, let the others take note of it, let the insignificant others take note of it. You should not worry about it.
This theory needs to be developed further, refined. I am discovering new reinforcing thoughts on these lines in day to day life.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Window
Security is one aspect that needs to be thought about, If I am not in house ona vacation , travelling I shouldnt be worrying too much with this window design.
Window
It should have a view an uninterrupted one where one can wake up, sit by it with the morning newspaper or a book, watch the rains outside, so glass shutters, cushions and curtains. I should be wide enough for two people to sit facing eachother, The glass shouldnt be frosted, it should be plain. No elaborate design on the shutters a minimalist look. A small flower bed on the outside along the window would be desirable.
The uninterrupted view implies, it shouldnt open up to someones area, definitely not a house, on our present house, it culd be in the front facing the road, facing east implies hot afternoon sun doesnt get in. I shouldnt be able to see anyone from there, just me and my thoughts. A circular shape means some of the shutters can be kept open when it rains. Also one can draw the curtains sit and read something while someone is sleeping.
The light arrangement should be soft and control should be available near the bed,near the window and near the door when you enter. Its should be soft white light. There should also be a plug point and a switch to control the main lighting in the room. There should be a ceiling fan.
The sitting area there can be continious along the window edge, and should be such that one can recline and sleep there, this idea has to be developed further. A small cofee table. The area under the sitting can be used for storage.
Curtains have to be heavy enough to block the light, but not very rich enough to block the light.
The picture portrays a very rich setting, it should be minimalist and yet provide all the functionality above.
Google Calendar Integration
This should ideally be coming from Google itself, or for that matter any IM client, My IM client should be able to use an online calendar service and provide me notifications.
Through the IM preferences/settigns I should eb able to set my preferences.
Through the IM preferences/settigns I should eb able to set my preferences.
Google Calendar Integration
Here is the mandate: communicate with google calendar service, read the username, password and public url from a properties file.A small light weight client to work with rather than the web page.
a) The s/w would be written in java, cause thats teh only language I am pretty comfortable in.
b) An api to create an event, date, time and a brief synopsis. and a flag if it is to notify regularly.
c) What is regular interval is controlled by the user through a properties file.
d) An api to tell if the event instance is to be set as completed .
This is teh backend code
The front end will be a swing application in the system tray.
Context menu will have show tasks, which will pop up a window showing the contents of that day.
The window will allow the fwd/backward buttons and a input box for entering the date.
On right clicking an event there will be an option to complete the task.
Notification service
This will derive the notification frequency from a properties file, query the calendar and notify the user if time to event is < 'before' setting in the event and event is not complete.
a) The s/w would be written in java, cause thats teh only language I am pretty comfortable in.
b) An api to create an event, date, time and a brief synopsis. and a flag if it is to notify regularly.
c) What is regular interval is controlled by the user through a properties file.
d) An api to tell if the event instance is to be set as completed .
This is teh backend code
The front end will be a swing application in the system tray.
Context menu will have show tasks, which will pop up a window showing the contents of that day.
The window will allow the fwd/backward buttons and a input box for entering the date.
On right clicking an event there will be an option to complete the task.
Notification service
This will derive the notification frequency from a properties file, query the calendar and notify the user if time to event is < 'before' setting in the event and event is not complete.
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